How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Page)
Quote #1
And soon after, because of the dread she had of damnation on the one hand, and his sharp reproving of her on the other, this creature went out of her mind and was amazingly disturbed and tormented with spirits for half a year, eight weeks and odd days. (I.1.41)
What Kempe is suffering here is probably what we would now call post-partum depression. Kempe herself wouldn't have had name for this, but she guesses it, which is why she gives the context of her first childbirth in this part of the narrative. Her physical ailments give way to a spiritual crisis. That's not unusual—except that Kempe's suffering has a distinct religious element to it.
Quote #2
She lay beside her husband, and to have intercourse with him was so abominable to her that she could not bear it, and yet it was permissible for her at a rightful time if she wished it. But all the time she was tormented to sin with the other man because he had spoken to her. (I.4.50)
Kempe feels called to chastity and the contemplative life—but she is the mother of fourteen children, and she's just been joke-propositioned by a man in the town. These are serious challenges, indeed. Kempe's candor in speaking of these difficulties is pretty cool, and it shows that she's forging a new path for women who were thought to be past the possibility of a spiritual life.
Quote #3
These feelings and others like them, many more than can be written, both of living and dying, of some to be saved, of some to be damned, were great pain and punishment to this creature. She would rather have suffered any bodily penance than these feelings.... (I.23.90)
Kempe has a tender heart and goes toe-to-toe with Jesus about the whole damnation issue. Of course, she loses, and Jesus tells her she just has to accept that some people aren't going to make it. Although Jesus has given her a free pass on her sins, Kempe feels pretty bummed that any human should suffer eternally.